I was wondering. If food gets cooked in the microwave, are the nutrients sucked out of it?

I have a friend who thinks this, and he refuses to eat microwaved food as a result.

Anyone who can clear this up for me, a massive thankyou from me. I want to prove him wrong!

The microwave only heats the food,moisture,mostly water, can be removed by the heating action but that also happens in a normal oven.

It`s an interesting question though,I have met people that believe that microwaves poison food.

I have met people who won't stand in front of a microwave while is is cooking because of microwaves 'leaking' out and poisoning them. They don't seem worried about their food being poisoned.

Microwave ovens work simply by vibrating the water molecules within the food - if the seals are not intact on the oven, then microwaves can leak out. They do not however "poison" our bodies, but they can most certainly cause horrendous burns. Radar also uses similar frequencies as Microwave ovens, and it is inadvisable to stand close to a radar dish when it's operating!
Mobile telephone transmitters do NOT harm people, despite the fact that they again use microwave frequencies, as thier transmissions are "beamed" as opposed to "focused" as is the case in a microwave oven.

After digging a bit, here's what I found as far as microwaves used in transmitting cell phone calls, anyway -

When translated into wattage, wireless phones maximally emit power in the range of 0.2 to 0.6 watts. When you compare this to walkie-talkies which emit radiation more than 10 watts or your basic AM radio station [which emit radiation at levels of 50,000 watts or more]
However there are other risks which can't be factored in the form of numbers...for instance -the amount of RF you are exposed to with the use of a cell phone depends on a number of variables which include:

- The age of your cell phone (an older model creates higher exposure levels than a newer phone)
-The duration and frequency of using your cell phone [ maybe the most crucial scary point here, especially when dealing with my teenagers]
- distance from the station relaying the signals.

It seems the risk involved is a matter not so much of the cell phone itself, as new models become available that are less and less potentially harmful but in it's chronic overuse - like over exposure to most things.


Edited to add: I looked and couldn't find much about the original 'Radar Range' which my father brought home with great fanfare in the summer of 1971.
This means I have been exposed almost continuously to some sort of microwave activity for roughly 38 years. Hmm. This can't be good, no matter how you slice it.

I am not a doctor, so I cannot proffess to know the intricate workings of the human body, but as an electronics engineer I can only say that long term exposure to ANY powerful electromagnetic radiation is potentially harmful.

When a powerful electrogmagnetic wave - radio, TV, radar, microwave ovens, cellphones, etc, pass through something, they set up certain resonances and harmonics - minute vibrations, possibly even down to a molecular level.

If a human body is in the path of a powerful "wave", then it WILL be subjected to a potentialy harmful "shaking".
There has been much debate regarding wether or not mobile telephones (cellphones - USA) have enough POWER to initiate these resonances within the body, and wether or not the frequencies used are "tuned" to the resonant frequencies of our bodies.

To give a known example of damaging resonances - strobe lighting and epilepsy. The frequency of the strobing sets up a destructive resonance in a certain part of the brain to which epileptics are particularly susceptable.

I'm glad you brought up the concept of how light pulses affect the human electrical system - in fact, I was thinking about that not long ago, now that the leaves are starting to fall off the trees here [ just bear with me a minute ] Some old friends of mine have a teenage daughter with epilepsy. When she was small, Mary noticed that she seemed to have more seizures in the winter time, and her husband John finally figured out why. We live in a very rural area. During the winter, the trees which shade the mountain highways in summer are bare and cast stark shadows in the glare of the sun - made worse by the brightness of snow. When driving down the road, this creates a natural strobe effect which has been known to send many epileptic sufferers around the bend.
Our electrical systems as a species are highly complex - I am always interested in hearing about the subject.

Back to the OP....

as far as I know, because cooking times are reduced the food can actually be more nutritious when cooked in a microwave. Certaily this is true of vegetables which are, in effect, steamed. Not so sure of meat etc.

To be honest, I rarely use mine. I love my vegetables steamed in my steamer, or dry(ish) roasted in the oven.

Leaky microwaves and pacemakers are a bit of a disaster!

There was a rumour around years ago that TV engineers could end up with small families due to the effects of radiation from the EHT circuits and the back of the CRT. There was even one section of an early colour TV that had a warning on the cover saying that the TV shouldn't be run with the cover removed (because of X-radiation). That was all very well unless there was a fault in that area. We did our best but you can't mend and test with the covers on.

Anyway I never did notice anybody's skeleton projected onto the ceiling and I ended up with three children. So much for rumour!

Thats a funny post tellywellies lol

I spent most of my working life around high energy electronic equipment - magnetrons for instance - and I fathered FIVE kids, so its all scaremongering lol

My two eldest daughters do glow in the dark though hehehehehe

I'd always understood that microwave ovens cook food better because none of the nutrients are removed, as they would be for instance in the boiling or frying process. Certainly vegetables IMHO taste far better cooked in a microwave oven than by boiling.
I do prefer meat roasted or grilled though.
On the general subject of electromagnetic fields, I spent most of my working life as a power engineer, working in large power stations and high voltage substations, and you really don't get much powerful electromagnetic fields that in these locations! Engineers, linesmen, and fitters who work most of the time in close proximity to high voltage equipment tend to be quite long lived and healthy!